Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has promised improvements to education funding, housing and social equality at a sold out show in Devon – and even chats about his favourite boyhood trips to visit family in the county.

Coming on stage at The Factory in Barnstaple last night to rapturous applause, Mr Corbyn asked: “Is Labour going to win in North Devon?” After a burst of cheers, he replied: “Then my work is done.”

Speaking to Devon Live before he took to the stage at the Labour Party fundraising event, Mr Corbyn was confident that the Labour party was growing stronger in the county, and said he was “delighted” to be in Barnstaple – even though his journey to the area was a bit of a bumpy ride.

Jeremy Corbyn on stage

He said: “I’m taking our message out to places where we haven’t won before because the issues of poverty, inequality and social justice, youth opportunities and pensions affect everybody everywhere.

“I’ve never been on the Tarka line before, I’ve always wanted to. It’s a bit bumpy but it’s fun. We stood most of the way but people were ever so friendly. Unfortunately my cup of coffee fell over during a bump on the line so we had to clean up the train as well.

“I remember in Parliament joining in campaigns to save the Barnstaple line from being closed. It has not been closed but it is quite slow and it’s very beautiful, the Tarka line, but it does need improvement.”

Jeremy Corbyn talks to the press before he goes on stage.

Though not a Devon native, Mr Corbyn has many connections to the county, with his mother’s side of the family living in Plymouth, his niece living in Exeter, and his aunt being a Tiverton stalwart.

He explained: “My aunt, Mary Corbyn, was matron of the hospital in Tiverton, and later on became the manager of Ilford Park camp for Polish refugees. She worked there for many years, supporting older people, mostly men, who had come from Poland in the Second World War and she stayed there until she retired. I remember being taken as a very small child to visit her in Tiverton Hospital and I thought she was ever so frightening with her matron uniform on.

“I’ve been in Devon many times on visits. I can’t pretend I was born in Devon, I was born in Wiltshire. I know politicians are very good at claiming several places, it’s not possible, you can only be born in one place!”

He said: “The key has to be transport and broadband infrastructure. You’re not going to get substantial manufacturers or businesses moving in unless you have better communication, and that means broadband. But it also means the connections, both road and rail. I know there’s an issue about the dualling of the road and I can understand and support that.

“I am very conscious that areas of the south west have poor communications, insufficiency of investment in transport infrastructure, and essentially a low wage, often insecure economy. We will establish a national investment bank which would be regionally based so that decisions made on which roads you invest in, which railway lines you invest in, and what local industry development you’re prepared to support would be made by a regional investment banker, in consultation with local authorities.

Billy Bragg performed after Jeremy Corbyn's speech

“The other thing is about housing. We need housing development run by a housing association with long-term secure tenancies on a social rent because working class communities and young people need places to live that are affordable.”

Finally Mr Corbyn then moved on to speak about education, which has recently been described as “historically underfunded” in Devon. The new funding formula was also called “unacceptable” by North Devon councillors and teachers, which Mr Corbyn acknowledged.

He said: “There has to be a funding formula for schools that recognises the needs of communities that sometimes have got quite small schools because they’re in rural areas. A smallish rural school is actually the glue of the community. The way the government changed the funding formula hit schools in this area but also schools in the area I’m the MP for. These are very densely populated areas with high need children but not a problem of numbers so the funding formula must respect that.

Billy Bragg introduces Jeremy Corbyn

“The government eventually gave in to a lot of the pressure that we put on them about the cuts in capitation, the per pupil funding, but unfortunately took that money away from the school health budget. So children, and primary school children as well as secondary school children go through mental health crisis, their support has been limited and has been cut back.

“We will be investing more in education. We’ll also be investing a lot more in pre-school, 30 hours a week in pre-school for all two to four-year-olds, which wouldn’t cost a huge amount. To have some money to spend on arts and the local community with the school, would get children into theatres, into dance, into art, as well as music.

“I think education should be the most exciting and brightest time of children’s lives and it shouldn’t be a time of stress about school funding or their parents going through a lot of stress of trying to pay for extra lessons and extracurricular activities because the community as a whole can’t provide them. We owe it to our children.”